Going Dutch? Firm exports and FDI in the wake of the 2014 EU-Russia sanctions

We examine the 2014 European Union economic sanctions on exports to Russia and the Russian retaliatory measures on imports from several Western countries. Using the universe of highly disaggregated international trade and taxation data for firms in the Netherlands, we systematically analyze the impact of these economic sanctions on Dutch firms' exports and foreign direct investment. Our analyses account for the product-specific EU restrictions on arms, equipment used for oil exploration and extraction, and dual-use products suitable for civilian and military use, as well as the Russian import ban on various primary commodities. Our empirical findings highlight the overall negative impact of sanctions on the intensive margin of exports. However, having a foreign affiliate in Russia helps to mitigate the otherwise negative impact of sanctions on the extensive margin of exports. We also show that exporters do not circumvent sanctions by setting up a local affiliate in Russia. In fact, exposure to Russian countersanctions may even force firms to close their Russian affiliates

Session C2: How Migrating Fish Survives Between Law, Politics, and Permits for Hydropower

Abstract: Although hydropower is a small energy source in the Netherlands, it is often discussed in the media, among stakeholders, and in politics. On the one hand, the Dutch government promotes the development of sustainable energy. On the other hand, these projects can cause damage to migratory fish. Since the Dutch large rivers are crucial as main ports for many migratory fish species, the water manager (Rijkswaterstaat) has developed an official policy rule for a transparent decision-making on hydropower issues. The rule provides a specific framework for decision makers when assessing projects for hydropower stations. It aims to allow for new initiatives while at the same time it enables the reaching of fish-protection targets set under three important policies for protection of migrating fish (Regulation for Eel, Benelux Decision, and the WFD). Stakeholders from both fishing organizations and hydropower companies have been consulted in the drafting of the framework.The framework consists of a description of available techniques and criteria for fish damage, including an explanation on how and where they are applied. The damage on two vulnerable species (Eel and Salmon) needs to be tested during downstream migration. If the damage on these species meets the criteria set in the policy rule, the level of protection at the plant is considered to be sufficient for the protection of the whole fish community. In two large river stretches which are suitable for hydropower, cumulative fish damage caused by hydropower needs to be lower than 10% for both eel and salmon. If the present damage in the river stretch is already higher than 10%, new hydropower stations are only allowed when fish damage is lower than \u3c0,1% per location. In other water bodies important for fish migration, damage must be always lower than 0,1% per water body

Impacts of farmer field schools in the human, social, natural and financial domain : a qualitative review

The Farmer Field School (FFS) is a widely used method seeking to educate farmers to adapt agricultural decisions to diverse and variable field conditions. Out of 218 screened studies, 65 were selected to review the impact of the FFS. An analytical framework was developed with effects (outputs, outcomes and impacts) arranged according to the human, social, natural and financial domains. Impacts on non-participants of the FFS were addressed as peripheral effects. The FFS demonstrated its potential to enhance human, social, natural and financial capital of rural communities. Human capital was built in the form of critical thinking, innovation, confidence, and quality of life. Effects on social capital included mutual trust, bonding, collective action, networking, and emancipation. Natural capital was enhanced through improvements in field practices, food production, agricultural diversification, and food security. Financial capital was enhanced through increased income and profits, savings and loans schemes, with a potential to reduce poverty. The available body of evidence was unbalanced across the capital domains, providing high coverage of the natural domain but low coverage of the human, social and financial domains. In-depth case studies are needed to elucidate the interactions between livelihood assets, and the influences of the policy, institutional and external environment, in order to adjust FFS interventions aiming to optimize their impacts. Considering the positive effects the FFS can have on rural livelihoods, the FFS has potential to contribute to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. However, quality assurance of the FFS and a balanced evaluation across the capital domains require attention.</p

Can Locus of Control Compensate for Socioeconomic Adversity in the Transition from School to Work?

Internal locus of control is associated with academic success and indicators of wellbeing in youth. There is however less understanding regarding the role of locus of control in shaping the transition from school to work beyond the more widely studied predictors of socioeconomic background and academic attainment. Guided by a socio-ecological model of agency, the current study examines to which extent internal locus of control, understood as an indicator of individual agency, can compensate for a lack of socioeconomic resources by moderating the association between parental disadvantage and difficulties in the transition from school to work. We draw on data collected from a longitudinal nationally representative cohort of 15,770 English youth (48% female) born in 1989/90, following their lives from age 14 to 20. The results suggest that the influence of agency is limited to situations where socioeconomic risk is not overpowering. While internal locus of control may help to compensate for background disadvantage regarding avoidance of economic inactivity and unemployment to some extent, it does not provide protection against long-term inactivity, i.e. more than 6 months spent not in education, employment or training

Linguistic dual tasking reduces emotionality, vividness and credibility of voice memories in voice-hearing individuals:Results from a controlled trial

Dual taxation of the working memory during recall is an effective strategy to reduce the emotionality and vividness of visual intrusive memories and potentially changes dysfunctional beliefs associated with the memories. This study tested the hypothesis that dual tasking decreases emotionality, vividness and credibility of auditory intrusive images (i.e., memories of auditory hallucinations) with a two-level (time: pre and post; condition: dual tasking and recall only) within-subjects design. Thirty-seven voice-hearing participants selected two negative voice-hearing experiences. They recalled one of these experiences while performing a lingual dual task (i.e., language game on smartphone app) and recalled one memory without a dual task (in counterbalanced order). During the pre-test and post-test, emotionality and vividness of the voice-hearing memories were rated, as well as the credibility of the voice statements. There was a significantly greater decrease in emotionality, vividness and credibility during dual tasking than during recall only. This study provides proof of principle that the salience and credibility of the content of auditory hallucinations can be reduced by dual tasking; the clinical implications are also discussed

Resilience of Alternative Stable States during the Recovery of Shallow Lakes from Eutrophication: Lake Veluwe as a Case Study

In this paper we analyze a long-term dataset on the recovery from eutrophication of Lake Veluwe (The Netherlands). Clear hysteresis was observed in a number of ecosystem variables: the route to recovery differed significantly from the route that led to loss of clear water. The macrophyte dominated state disappeared in the late 1960s at TP above 0.20mgl−1, whereas its return occurred at less than 0.10mgTPl−1. Several regime shifts resulting in the occurrence of three alternative stable states were observed over a period of 30years. The turbid state showed resistance to change, despite a strong and prompt reduction in Chl-a following reduction of external P-loading. The most important component that determined hysteresis in the return to clear water was not internal P-loading, but a high level of nonalgal light attenuation (through sediment resuspension) maintained by the interaction between wind and benthivorous fish. Although Chara was able to re-colonize the most shallow parts of the lake, recovery stalled and for a number of years clear (above charophyte beds) and turbid (deeper parts of the lake) water co-existed, as a separate alternative state on route to full recovery. Lake-wide clear water was re-established after bream density had been reduced substantially. This allowed a return of zebra mussels to the lake, whose high filtration capacity helped in maintaining clear water. In this study, we were able to identify the main drivers of hysteresis and regime shifts, although formal demonstration of cause and effect was not possible on the basis of field data alone. We argue that resilience of the present clear water state of Lake Veluwe very much depends on sizable populations of a few keystone species, especially Chara (stoneworts) and Dreissena (zebra mussels), and that careful management of these species is equally important as control of nutrients. Lake management should strive to maintain and strengthen resilience of the ecosystem, and this should offer protection against a renewed collapse of the clear stat